Elvira Madigan

Introduction

This is a film I had known about for years, yet had no idea it was a film. By this I mean that every time I heard, or saw a record of Mozart`s 21st Piano Concerto, it was almost invariably announced as being `The Elvira Madigan`, and this even crept onto record sleeves almost as if Mozart had named it this himself. Have a look around yourselves and you`ll find things haven`t changed much. So, having discovered a few years later that it was a Swedish film for which the director used this piece as the major part of the soundtrack I`ve been waiting for the opportunity to see it, if only to find out what sort of film could have instilled itself into the popular conciousness so dramatically...and then leave it again just as quickly.

It is apparently based on a famous by Johan Lindström Saxon ballad which to my shame I have not read (in English or the original Swedish), but there`s always a first time.

Video

The film is shown in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and one of the most noticeable aspects of the production is the use of soft-focus photography and very striking colours - rather like almost any of the more recent shampoo adverts which have obviously borrowed heavily from this original.

I was impressed by the clarity and apparently restored state of the film during the first half, but I suspect that the `fault lines` and scratches which are notciceable during the second half mean that we may just have a well kept, but unrestored print.

Audio

The sound is presented in the original Swedish (with the choice of English subtitles) in DD 2.0.

Given that the script is rather sparse, and tells us little of the plot, we are treated to seemingly random bursts of Mozart or Vivaldi in the more passionate moments, but otherwise all we hear are the sounds of the country and this quickly becomes much more effective than any of the music.

Features

Extras are non-existent, which is unforgivable considering the medium`s capacity, but how many times does this have to be mentioned before anything is done about it?

Conclusion

I found this to be quite an impressive film overall, although thinking back, it`s not because of what was in it, but because of what was left out.

At the start we are told about what happens to the two main characters and so knowing this, we are left with trying to fathom out the reasoning behind it all before the inevitable conclusion. As I have mentioned, the script appears to be an addition to the film rather than the plot-developer. Even when some important information is gleaned (Sixten`s wife trying to kill herself after he ran off with Elvira) the sound disappears when Elvira blocks her own ears to the news. We are as equally left in the dark as to the real reasons behind Sixten`s desertion from the army and his family, and why a girl such as Elvira (can`t quite get over how lovely Pia Degermark is!) would ruin her own life to run away with someone who, on the surface, is completely untrustworthy. She tries to explain to Sixten`s army pal, but her reasoning doesn`t hold water.

And then the film ends.dramatically, violently and ultimately, unsatisfactorily. Too many questions left unanswered. Will have to give it another go in case I missed anything.